The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo bike

Update: Jan. 24, 2012 Rooney Mara was nominated for Best Actress for her role as Lisbeth Salander.

Cori and I went to a matinée to see The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo yesterday. I was curious to see how the bike would be used in the film. I had read that the studio wanted the Lisbeth Salander character to ride a newer bike but I thought the choice of a vintage Honda CB350 was perfect and exactly what the character would’ve ridden. Tough, a bit beat up looking and weathered with some meaty tires for riding in all weather. Glory Motor Works, a Los Angeles builder, did a fantastic job turning the bike into a vintage Cafe Racer.

The bike was in several scenes including a chase at night in the snow. We thought the growl of the CB350 engine perfectly expressed the rage pent-up inside the Salander character and as Cori pointed out seemed to growl out either “here I come” or “there I go” from a woman who otherwise survived by being a ghost. I loved the original movies and thought maybe the Hollywood version wouldn’t measure up but it did and may actually be a better adaptation of the novel. If you love thrillers and bikes check it out.

The first time I saw the teaser on TV I had to run to U-Tube and look it up so could frame by frame it and identify that bike,LOL. I've had 2 Honda CL350's in my life. The one I took my test on in 1976, a '72 model, and the '73 I own now. I got a real soft spot for them things 🙂 I ran it around the MSF course when no one was around. I think I did better on my Strom, LOL